Tesla charging chaos: Union blockade leaves cars stranded
"Complete madness"—depicting a line of Teslas waiting at a charging station in Malung, Sweden, was described. This chaotic scene arises from a dispute between Tesla and Swedish trade unions.
The town of Malung, with a population of about 5,000, is located near the Norwegian border. It regularly attracts cross-country skiing enthusiasts, particularly during the Christmas and New Year periods.
"It's complete madness. In Sweden, over 200 Tesla cars are stuck in queues for charging as families return from their skiing holiday. This is happening despite the existence of 35 brand-new Supercharger stations. Why? They are offline due to an ongoing union blockade against Tesla in Sweden," wrote Linus Ekenstam on X.
The website spidersweb.pl explains that this significant traffic jam of "electric cars" results from an ongoing conflict between Swedish trade unions and the American corporation.
"In Sweden, Tesla has built 100 new charging stations, but they cannot be activated because there is no agreement to connect them to the power grid," the report states.
The dispute began when 50 employees from authorised Tesla service stations complained about working conditions last year. In protest, they refused to carry out repairs, leading Tesla to bring in workers from other countries to Sweden. This move "angered other unions" that are now confronting Tesla.
"There is a problem with unloading cars in Swedish ports, postal workers are refusing to send registration plates to Teslas, and the most severe issue is the electricians' strike. They refuse to connect the new Superchargers to electricity, and the situation is dire. It's been ongoing since April, but its impact on the company has only recently become evident," notes spidersweb.pl.
Musk profits from Trump's victory
Tesla's main shareholder, Elon Musk, is closely associated with Donald Trump. Following the Republican's victory in the recent US presidential election, Tesla's shares soared, surpassing $1 trillion on the New York Stock Exchange in November.
"Tesla has unparalleled scale and scope in the electric vehicle industry, and this momentum could give Musk and Tesla a distinct competitive advantage in a non-electric vehicle subsidy environment. This, combined with likely higher tariffs in China, will prevent cheaper Chinese players in the electric vehicle market (such as BYD, Nio, etc.) from flooding the American market in the coming years," wrote Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, in November.
However, on 2 January, shares plummeted. Tesla's stock fell by more than 5 percent after the company announced its delivery results for the fourth quarter of 2024. CNBC analysed Tesla's stock market report, which shows that in the last three months of 2024, the company delivered 495,570 vehicles.
